For bigger applications this becomes a necessity, the resources (memory and cycles) spent only for loading the code is already a barrier. Splitting up functions and methods (exactly! decoupling methods from their respective classes), so they are loaded only when necessary is the best way out without a persistent server.

Still the best solution would be a persistent server, for things like handling the database connection, loading up translations into memory for efficiency, handling most of what is called 'core' in php application servers out there...

There is Vulcan´s Logic SRM, still the problem is that we need something supported from the PHP main extensions, to assure every configuration out there will have support for this, or else we would have to develop for 2 different platforms which wouldnt work probably...

"Complexity sells better and the market pulls in this direction" ... "It is time to unmask computing community as a Secret Society for the Creation and Preservation of Artificial Complexity.

And then we have the software engineers, who only mention formal methods in order to throw suspicion on them. In short, we should not expect too much support from the computing community at large.

And from the mathematical community I have learned not to expect too much support either, as informality is the hallmark of the Mathematical Guild, whose members --like poor programmers -- derive their intelectual excitement from not quite knowing what they are doing and prefer to be thrilled by marvel of the human mind (in particular their own ones). For them, the Dream of Leibniz is a Nightmare.

When Gödel proved his incompleteness theorems about all of the main logicist theories at the time, it showed that the traditional theories which were believed to be good foundations for mathematics would not be able even to handle arithmetics.

This led most to think, as quoted from this paper, "Godel's incompleteness result showed the impossibility of Hilbert's program of reducing mathematics to logic and by implication the impossibility of reducing computing to logic.".

This statement is wrong and the paper has some other visible errors too, still that's how mathematicians felt and still feel today.

There is still some researchers arguing that Gödel's results do not prove Hilbert's program to be impossible.

But i think that the only way now to convince others is not arguing wether it is possible or not. It is to find out a theory which doesn't fall prey to Gödel results...

Followed wspace's link to Dijkstra's paper and loved it. More than anything the end of it, which is exactly how a formalist feels nowadays. So bad he isnt with us anymore...

For most of Dijkstra works scanned (he didnt like to use the computer to write!)

For those wondering, formalism was a movement, very influencial in 1900´s leadered by Hilbert that pronounced mathematics to be no more than the manipulation of strings.

Today almost no mathematician or logician believes in it, still there are some of us left :)

In one of Dijkstra's papers he wonders why mathematicians haven't realized yet the importance of what Hilbert's movement proposes or Leibnitz Dream as he calls.

Well, i think it is because around 1930, Gödel proved that the 'common' logic theories are inconsistent (You can prove something true and false at the same time) or incomplete (There is something true you cannot prove) when you add Arithmetics to it (PA)

I personally think that was more of problem of the 'common' theories of the time

I am impressed by some of the presentations at PHPCon this year. They are really worth the read.

For a long time i didn´t read articles about php programming, as when i started programming in php, most of the articles i would find were lacking content or easy things anyone would figure by themselves

phpBuilder stuck in my mind about these articles, i wonder how better they are these days

Xaraya has already hit the Beta status. It´s shapingly nice... We´re just missing features compared to other nukes around, still thankfully for the leadership vision of laying out good foundations before building the house.

It´s pretty quick to add those features, even accross every module already existent without modifying a line of their code.

Surely 3rd party module devs will find out this by themselves and soon we will start having the missing features end users love so much...

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